Improvement in horse-shoes



@anni five WILLIAM'R'IEKIE WATSON, 'or' s'rocK'roN CALIFORNIA.

Leners rraam: No. 87,384, med Mwah 2, 1869.

IN HORSE-SHC-ES The Schedule referred to in these Lettera Patent and making part oi' the same.

To all whom lit. md/y concern The object of my invention is to provide an improved shoe for horses, so constructed that the horses heel is freely permitted to expand, as well as making a much easier anduseful shoe for the horse.

It is wellknown that the usefulness of the horse,de' pends, to a great degree, on the endurance and strength of his foot, being composed, as'it is, of numerous small bones, nicely arranged and adjusted, so.that when theyare in a healthy condition, they are capable of exerting great strength, and with great endurance. This part of a horses foot should he allowed to expand freely, each part occupying its intended position, and, when from any cause this expansion is checked, the conse; quence is, that the foot becomes diseased, and the horse will be crippled in hisl feet, so that his value is .greatly impaired.- This is especially the case when horses are shod when young, and allowed to retain the shoes a gr'eat length of time without changing..

To avoid this difficulty, I construct my shoe in three different parts, separating the two heel-pieces fromthe toe-piece, by vmeans of 'V-shaped joints.l These joints are bevelled, the toe restinglon the bevel of the .heel-l pieces, thus .giving the heel a chance to expand either way. i

To more fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, of which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved shoe. Figure 2 is a side view of the shoe, ,seenv edgewse. A is a section of a horse-shoe, forming 'the toe, and B and B', the heel-pieces'. These sections are secured to the horses'hoof, byy means of nails, in the usual Way, each section being placed on the portion of the hoof wllere it properly belongs.V The heel-pieces B B are the first to be nailed to the hoof, as the end a, pointing towards the toe, is pointed and bevelled on the upper side, as shown. The two ends of the toe-piece are cut out in the shape of a V, and bevelled ou the lower side. The toe-piece is placedon the hoof, so that the bevel of the V-s'haped cut will rest upon the bevel ofthe heel-pieces. By this management, I save the liability of breaking the nails in the heel-pieces, and give more freedom of action t0 the toe, whilethe heel ofthe horse Vis permitted to expand in either direction freely. vThe shoe need not'be in other particularsfdiiierent from ythose now in use.

.The nails, in number and place, will depend on the condition of the hoof, which, if sound, will require but six. Eight nails are commonly used for the old-style shoe, seldom seven, and six very unusual.

V,Having thus described my invention,

, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The above -described shoe for horses, consisting of a toe-piece and two heel-pieces, adapted to t together, but to be nailed on separately, substantially as described. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my han'd and seal.

WILLIAM RIEKIE WATSON. [1.; s.]

Witnesses:

JOHN H. HoUsMA'N, D.'A. MEADER. 

